Socket assembly

ABSTRACT

A socket assembly having a base support at its central portion and leading terminal supports provided at predetermined portions surrounding said base support and formed stepwise, comprises a base support unit including the base support and a leading terminal mount including at least one of the units of which are separable from one another horizontally such that each of said units includes one of said leading terminal supports, said each unit being coupled to each other.

United States Patent Fujita et al.

SOCKET ASSEMBLY Inventors: Teizo Fujita, Osaka; Masao Kikuchi,

Nabari, both of Japan [73] Assignee: Izumi Denki Company Limited, Osaka,Japan [22] Filed: Aug. 17, 1973 21 Appl. No.: 389,405

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Aug. 18, 1972 Japan 47-83201 [52]U.S. Cl 339/198 S; 339/206 L; 339/193 VS [51] Int. Cl HOIr 9/00 {58]Field of Search 339/198 R, 198 C, 198 G, 339/198 GA, 198 11,198 8,198 P,198 M, 206, 207, 208, 31 B, 191 M, 192, 176 M, 193, 194, 210, 208

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,070,769 12/1962 Murphy339/210 M 1 May 13, I975 3,523,268 8/1970 Foster 339/193 A X 3,601,7818/1971 Mullin l 339/210 M 3,643,210 2/1972 Fujita 339/198 G X 3,760,3369/1973 Cerwin l. 339/92 M FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,210,47011/1970 United Kingdom 339/198 S Primary Examiner-Marion Parsons, .lr.

Assistant ExaminerRobert A. Hafer Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Pollack,Philpitt & Vande Sande [57] ABSTRACT A socket assembly having a basesupport at its central portion and leading terminal supports provided atpredetermined portions surrounding said base support and formedstepwise, comprises a base support unit including the base support and aleading terminal mount including at least one of the units of which areseparable from one another horizontally such that each of said unitsincludes one of said leading terminal supports, said each unit beingcoupled to each other.

6 Claims, 16 Drawing Figures PMENIEQ w 1 31975 SHEET 1 BF 8 FIG.

PATENTED MAY 1 3197s SHEET 2 OF 8 FIG. 2

FIG. 3

FUENTES HAY 1 32% SHEET 30F 8 PATENTEB MAY 1 3l975 SHEET l 0F 8 PATENTEUHAY I 3 i975 SHEET 8 (IF 8 S(KET ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l.Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a socketassembly, and more particularly to an improved socket assembly includingits central parts a base support which is provided with openings adaptedto receive terminals of an object to be connected comprising asmall-sized electric device such as relay or timer, and leading terminalsupport means provided on each of the opposite sides of the base supportand formed stepwise.

2. Description of the Prior Art Usually, socket assemblies for generaluse are made in this type. The socket assemblies of this type are madedifferently in configuration of their base supports and in arrangementof openings in which the socket terminals are provided for receivingterminals of an object to be connected depending on whether terminals ofan object to be connected are formed into configuration of a blade orstem. The base support unit of the former has a substantiallyrectangular surface on which a plurality of openings for the socketterminals are arranged in a plurality of parallel rows. The base supportunit of the latter, on the other hand, has a substantially circularsurface. on which the openings for socket terminals are usually arrangedannularly in equi-spaced relationship. The two kinds of socketassemblies as mentioned above are slightly different from each other instructure but common in that they are integrally moulded of aninsulating material. However, both of them have the following drawbacks.That is, the mounting of metal connector fittings in the socket assemblynecessarily requires to mount metal connector fittings in the openingsfor socket terminals and mount different metal connector fittings forthe leading terminals due to its integral mould structure. That is, theabove-mentioned metal connector fittings have conventionally beenmounted in the respective positions inside the socket assembly and thenbeen connected to one another with connecting wires solderedtherebetween. With such an arrangement, the mounting of the metalconnector fittings on the socket assembly has been very complicatedbecause of the small size of the socket assembly itself and requiredgreat skill, resulting in poor working efficiency. Further there oftenoccurred defects on connection resulting from defective soldering at thesoldering of the connecting wires, inferiority clue to miss wiring, andwrong wiring between the metal connector fittings with the result ofreduced reliability of final products. Further, the increased number ofthe leading terminals caused the difficulty of ensuring a necessarycreepage distance between two adjacent metal connector fittings becauseof the limited space inside the socket assembly for convenience informing the integrated mould of the socket assembly, thus resulting inthe necessity of a disadvantageously large-sized socket assemblies.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is proposed forimprovement of the above-mentioned points and is intended to provide asmall-sized socket assembly which is assembled of a base support unitand a unit or units obtained by horizontal division of a leadingterminal support along each step.

These units are moulded separately, and fittingly mounted on each otherto make the socket assembly, thereby permitting the use of metalconnector fitting formed integrally of the parts for the socket terminaland those for the leading terminals instead of using the conventionalfittings in which the part for socket terminals are constructedseparately from the parts for the leading terminals. This arrangementpermits the metal connector fittings to be incorporated to the socketassembly at predetermined positions thereof without the necessity ofadditional wiring works, and ensures that the necessary creepagedistance is provided between any two adjacent metal connector fittingswith ease even in the increased number of the leading terminals.

The present invention will be described in detail in connection with theaccompanying drawings by way of an embodiment in which the presentinvention is applied to a stem type socket assembly including elevenleading terminals.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing asocket assembly according to the present invention and a timer to bemounted on the socket assembly.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the socket shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 3 is a right side view of the same.

FIGS. 4 and S are disassembled perspective views showing an assemblingstate of the socket assembly, respectively.

FIG. 6 is a plan view in an assembled state of units B and C.

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7 is a right side view of the units. 8 is a plan view of a unit A. 9 isa bottom view of the unit A. 10 is a side view of the unit A. 11 is aplan view of a unit B. 12 is a bottom view of the unit B. 13 is a sideview of the unit B. 14 is a plan view of a unit C. FIG. 15 is a sideview of the unit C. FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing one embodimentof metal connector fittings for use in the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In FIG. 1 there is shown a socketassembly 8 having at a substantially central portion a base support Ihaving a substantially circular surface, on both sides of which thereare provided leading terminal supports 2 and 3 formed in stepwisemanner. A timer T to be coupled therewith is provided with a pluralityof stem type connecting terminals P (P P P corresponding to the numberof poles (eleven in the shown embodiment) which extend from itsperiphery in concentric relation about a guide stem P extending from asubstantially central portion of its bottom wall. On the upper surfaceof the base support 1 there are provided openings 10 for socketterminals to which the terminals P are inserted and which are disposedin concentric relation about a through-hole l2 for guiding the guidestem P and adapted to correspondingly receive the terminals P. Thepresent invention is characterized in that the socket assembly S isdivided into and formed of a base support unit A and units B and C whichare constructed by horizontal division of the leading terminal supports2 and 3 along the boundary of the steps and are adapted to form thesocket assembly stacked of these units. For easy understanding of thepresent invention, the connecting terminals P are marked with referencenumerals l to II and the corresponding openings for socket terminals arealso marked with the same reference numerals.

The socket assembly according to the present invention is adapted to bedivided into a base support unit A, a first unit B, and a second unit Cwhich are separately moulded of an insulating material and adapted to beas sembled into the socket assembly. The base support unit A provided onthe uppermost stage of the socket assembly comprises a substantiallyrectangular unit mainly including the base support 1 of thesubstantially circular surface and ear portions ll (see FIG. 4). At thecentral portion of the base support 1 there is bored a through-hole 12for guiding the guide stem P of the timer T around which a plurality ofopenings 10 for socket terminals are disposed circularly to receive thecorresponding terminals P of the timer T. At the under portion of theopenings 10 there are provided recessed chambers l0,,, to l0 (FIG. 9)adapted to accommodate plug receiving terminals 41 and 51 (FIG. 16) ofmetal connector fittings 4 and as described hereinaf ter. Barriers 13 ofsubstantially sector shape radially ex tend from the wall portion on oneside of each recessed chamber to 10,, except for the recessed chambers10 and 10 outwardly of the lower surface of the unit A. Recessedportions 14 of substantially sector shape are formed between everyadjacent two of the barriers 13. In the shown embodiment, a barrier 13asurrounding the peripheral side wall of the recessed chamber 10, extendsoutwardly as the barriers 13 do. The side walls of the recessed chamber10,, are, on the other hand, formed with no barrier but the barriers 13of the adjacent recessed chambers 10,, and l0 serve as barriers for thechamber 10 A longitudinal channel l5 formed between the base support 1and the ear portion 11 serves as guide means for fittingly mounting theunit A on the unit B, which will be described below. Numeral 16 (FIG. 8)shows a mounting hole through which a pin 6 for mounting the socket ispassed.

Metal connector fittings 4 and 5 (FIGS. 4 and 16) are incorporated tothe units B and C, respectively. The fittings 4 and S are formed withthe receiving plug terminals 4i and 51 at one end, with leadingterminals 42 and 52 at the other end, and with laterally disposed bellyportions 43 and 53 and longitudinally disposed belly portions at theintermediate portion. The unit B, (FIG. 5) which is assembled betweenthe unit A and a unit C described later is provided at its substantiallycentral portion a through-hole 22 corresponding to the through-hole I2.Through-holes 20, to 20,, (FIGS. 11 and 12) corresponding to therecessed chambers 10,, to IO are provided around the through-hole 22 inconcentric relation thereto. Barriers 23 of substantially sector shapeare provided extending radially from the walls on respective sides ofthe through-holes 20,, to 20,, except for the through-holes 20,, and20,, out wardly of the upper surface of the unit B to a depth of therecessed portions 14 of the unit A, Recessed portions 24 are formedbetween the respective barriers 23, and recessed chambers 24h are.respectively. defined between the recessed portions 24 adjacent to thethrough-holes 20, 20,, 20,, 20,, and the leading terminal support 2provided on both ends of the unit B. The laterally disposed bellyportion 43 is fittingly mounted on the recessed chamber 24b uponmounting of the metal connector fittings 4. It is to be noted that arecessed portion 240 fitted into the barrier 13a is formed in theproximity of the through-hole 20 and a barrier 23a to be fitted into therecessed portion extends from the side wall of the through-hole 20 so asto fit each other without interference upon the mounting of the unit Aon the unit B. A separator 21 for separating the leading terminals ofthe terminal support 2 has its longitudinal inner edge portion 21aformed so as to be engageable with the longitudinal channel 14 of theunit A. In the unit B there are further provided a notch 26corresponding to the mounting hole I6 and a terminal support 2a providedwith a blind cover. An inclined lateral channel 25 is provided extending from the intermediate belly of the outer side edge portion inthe seperator 21. It is to be noted that at entrance ports at the lowersurface of the throughholes 20, 20, 20,, 2011B, 20., 20,, there areprovided guide notches 27 for permitting the metal connector fittings 5to be passed through with ease as required.

A description will next be made of the unit C incorporated to thelowermost portion of the socket assembly.

At the central portion of the unit C, that is, at the portioncorresponding to the base support I there is provided a substantiallyrectangular support chamber 30 at both sides of which there are formedrecessed chambers 31, on which the terminal supports 2 of the unit B aredisposed, with leading terminal supports 3 further provided at both thesides thereof (FIGS. 5, 16, l4, 15). On the support chamber 30 there areprovided recessed portions 30 30 30,, 30,, 30,, 30 for fitting into aportion of the laterally disposed belly portion 53 communicating withthe leading terminal 52 of the metal connector fittings S which isdisposed on the terminal support 3. The tip end portion of the recessedportion 30,, is configured to establish an opposing relation to thelower side of the through-hole 20,, Similarly, the tip ends of therecessed portions 30 30,, 30,, 30 and 30 are configured to establish anopposing relation to the lower sides of the through holes 20,, 20,,.,-,20 20 and 20 respectively. A separator 32 for separating the leadingterminals of the terminal support 3 is formed with an inclined wall 320extending inwardly from the corresponding position at the boundary ofthe recessed chamber 31. The inclined wall 32a is adapted to come intoengagement with a lateral channel 25 at the lower surface of the unit B.A separator 33 is provided on front and back sides of the unit Cstepwise corresponding to the level of the terminal supports 2 and 3.Studs 36 provided around four corners of the support chamber 30 areformed at its central portion with a mounting hole 36 a through whichthe fixing pin 6 is passed. Numerals 37 and 38 show mounting pieces forthe socket assembly.

A method for assembling the above-mentioned units A, B and C will bedescribed. First, the leading terminal 52 of the metal connector fitting5 is mounted on the terminal support 3 of the unit C through a pat, awasher and a terminal screw, while the laterally disposed belly portion53 is fittingly mounted on the recessed portion 300 and the recessedchamber 31. Then the unit B is assembled thereto in such a manner thatthe plug receiving terminal SI of the metal connector fittings 5 and thelongitudinally disposed belly portion 54 are fitted from the lowersurface of the unit B into the through-holes 20,,;,, 20 20 20 20,,;,, 20of the unit B, and the metal connector fittings 5 are fittingly mountedbetween the units B and C so that the notch 26 (FIG. 12) of the unit Bmay correspondingly receive the stud 36 of the unit C and that thelateral channel 25 of the unit B may correspondingly receive theinclined wall 32a of the unit C. Next the leading terminal 42 of themetal connector fittings 4 is mounted on the terminal support 2 of theunit B through a pat, washer and terminal screw in a manner similar tothat described earlier referring to the mounting of the latterallydisposed belly portion 43 on the recessed chamber 24b. Further, the unitA is assembled thereto in such a manner that the recessed chambers to10,, of the unit A are disposed to correspondingly receive the plugreceiving terminals 41 and 51 of the metal connector fittings 4 and 5,and the longitudinal channel 15 is disposed to correspondingly receivethe inner edge 21a of the separator 21 of the unit B. Finally, the unitsA, B and C are secured together by riveting fixing pins 6 to completethe socket assembly. It is to be noted that the units A, B and C may besecured not only by riveting but also by screws or by applying anadhesive to the surfaces of the units A, B and C.

As mentioned above, the socket assembly according to the presentinvention comprises the base support unit A and the units B and C whichare adapted to the assembled stepwise and having the respective stepportions provided with the leading terminal supports 2 and 3, therebypermitting the metal connector fittings 4 and 5 to be mounted in thesocket assembly only if they are fittingly mounted on the predeterminedpositions from the confronting surfaces of the units B and C beforecompletely assembling them into the socket assembly, so that themounting of the metal connector fittings is very simple as compared withthe conventional one. Further, the present invention permits the use ofthe metal connector fittings 4 and 5 in which the plug receiving andleading terminal portions are formed integrally without the necessity ofthe soldering operation of the connecting lines as seen conventionally.In these respects, the present invention completely removes the inferiorproducts resulting from poor connection or misswiring taking place atthe soldering and the wrong wiring between the metal connector fittings.Further, according to the present invention, the barriers l3 and 23ensure that the necessary creepage distance is sufficiently kept betweenevery adjacent two of the metal connector fittings 4 and 5, thuspermitting the socket assembly to be arranged to receive a great numberof poles with minimum space without making the socket assembly largeeven if a great number of leading terminals are required. The presentinvention is applicable not only to the socket assembly with the polesof odd number as shown in the embodiment but also to that having thepoles of even number. Further, the present invention can be applied tothe blade type socket assembly with the same effects as in the stem typesocket assembly. It will be a matter of course that the number of theleading terminal support in the socket assembly according to the presentinvention is not restricted to the two stages or steps.

We claim:

1. A socket assembly having external lead wire connection terminalsarranged in tiers at opposite ends thereof for electrically connectingterminals of an elcc tronic component such as a relay or timer toexternal lead wires, comprising:

a plurality of electrically conductive connector fittings each having atone end thereof essentially upwardly extending portions and each havingat the other end thereof external lead wire connection terminals forattachment to said lead wires, said upwardly extending portions eachincluding means for attachment to said terminals of the electroniccomponent, said plurality of connector fittings being divided into atleast first and second portions;

a lower base member of electrically insulating material including firstmeans on an upper surface of said base member removably supporting thefirst portion of said plurality of connector fittings each inelectrically separated positions on said lower base member, said lowerbase member including at each of opposite end portions thereof a row ofspaced seat portions individually supporting the external lead wireconnection terminals of the first portion of said connector fittings,whereby the first portion of said connector fittings supported on saidfirst means may be spaced each from the other;

at least one intermediate base member of electrically insulatingmaterial mounted on said lower base member, said intermediate basemember including spaced apertures aligned with each of said upwardlyextending portions of the first portion of said connector fittings sothat said upwardly extending portions of the first portion of saidconnector fittings pass through said apertures and extend upwardly froman upper surface of said upper base member, said intermediate basemember including second means on the upper surface thereof removablysupporting the second portion of said plurality of connector fittingseach in electrically separated portions on said intermediate basemember, said intermediate base member further including at each ofopposite end portions thereof a row of spaced seat portions forindividually supporting the external lead wire connection terminals ofthe sec ond portion of said connector fittings;

an electrical component support member of electrically insulatingmaterial mounted on said at least one intermediate base member andincluding spaced apertures a portion of which are aligned with each ofsaid apertures in said at least one intermediate base member and afurther portion of which are aligned with each of said upwardlyextending portions of said second portion of said plurality of connectorfittings; and

means for joining the intermediate and lower base members and componentsupport member,

whereby in use said terminals of said electronic component may beinserted into said apertures in said component support member to makecontact with said connector fittings and said lead wires may be attachedto said external lead wire connection terminals of the first and secondportions of said connector fittings.

2. The socket assembly of claim 1, wherein said connector fittings haveessentially laterally extending portions including said external leadwire connection terminals for attachment to said lead wires, saidlaterally extending portions of said first and second portions of saidplurality of connector fittings being arranged in first and secondtiers, respectively.

3. The socket assembly of claim I, wherein said first and second meansremovably supporting the first and second portions of the plurality ofconnector fittings comprise a plurality of recesses in the uppersurfaces of said lower base member and said at least one intermediatebase member, respectively, each recess terminating at the periphery ofits respective base member in a raised surface formed with said row ofspaced seat portions for supporting said external lead wire connectionterminals for attachment to the lead wires; and said in termediate basemember and said component support member further comprise a plurality ofrecesses in respective lower surfaces thereof in alignment with saidspaced apertures therein for receiving said upwardly extending portionsof said connector fittings.

4. The socket assembly of claim 3, wherein said connector fittings haveessentially laterally extending portions including said external leadwire connection terminals for attachment to said lead wires, saidlaterally extending portions of said plurality of connector fittingsbeing arranged in first and second tiers, respectively,

5. The socket assembly of claim 3, wherein said recesses in said uppersurface of said intermediate support member include an upwardlyextending wall along one side thereof and the corresponding recesses insaid lower surface of said component support member include a downwardlyextending wall along a side thereof opposing said upwardly extendingwall, thereby defining a space between said walls in which said secondportion of the plurality of connector fittings is retained.

6. The socket assembly of claim 5, wherein said connector fittings haveessentially laterally extending portions including said external leadwire connection terminals for attachment to said lead wires, saidlaterally extending portions of said plurality of connector fittingsbeing arranged in first and second tiers, respectively.

1. A socket assembly having external lead wire connection terminalsarranged in tiers at opposite ends thereof for electrically connectingterminals of an electronic component such as a relay or timer toexternal lead wires, comprising: a plurality of electrically conductiveconnector fittings each having at one end thereof essentially upwardlyextending portions and each having at the other end thereof externallead wire connection terminals for attachment to said lead wires, saidupwardly extending portions each including means for attachment to saidterminals of the electronic component, said plurality of connectorfittings being divided into at least first and second portions; a lowerbase member of electrically insulating material including first means onan upper surface of said base member removably supporting the firstportion of said plurality of connector fittings each in electricallyseparated positions on said lower base member, said lower base memberincluding at each of opposite end portions thereof a row of spaced seatportions individually supporting the external lead wire connectionterminals of the first portion of said connector fittings, whereby thefirst portion of said connector fittings supported on said first meansmay be spaced each from the other; at least one intermediate base memberof electrically insulating material mounted on said lower base member,said intermediate base member including spaced apertures aligned witheach of said upwardly extending portions of the first portion of saidconnector fittings so that said upwardly extending portions of the firstportion of said connector fittings pass through said apertures andextend upwardly from an upper surface of said upper base member, saidintermediate base member including second means on the upper surfacethereof removably supporting the second portion of said plurality ofconnector fittings each in electrically separated portions on saidintermediate base member, said intermediate base member furtherincluding at each of opposite end portions thereof a row of spaced seatportions for individually supporting the external lead wire connectionterminals of the second portion of said connector fittings; anelectrical component support member of electrically insulating materialmounted on said at least one intermediate base member and includingspaced apertures a portion of which are aligned with each of saidapertures in said at least one intermediate base member and a furtherportion of which are aligned with each of said upwardly extendingportions of said second portion of said plurality of connector fittings;and means for joining the intermediate and lower base members andcomponent support member, whereby in use said terminals of saidelectronic component may be inserted into said apertures in saidcomponent support member to make contact with said connector fittingsand said lead wires may be attached to said external lead wireconnection terminals of the first and second portions of said connectorfittings.
 2. The socket assembly of claim 1, wherein said connectorfittings have essentially laterally extending portions including saidexternal lead wire connection terminals for attachment to said leadwires, said laterally extending portions of said first and secondportions of said plurality of connector fittings being arranged in firstand second tiers, respectively.
 3. The socket assembly of claim 1,wherein said first and second means removably supporting the first andsecond portions of the plurality of connector fittings comprise aplurality of recesses in the upper surfaces of said lower base memberand said at least one intermediate base member, respectively, eachrecess terminating at the periphery of its respective base member in araised surface formed with said row of spaced seat portions forsupporting said external lead wire connection terminals for attachmentto the lead wires; and said intermediate base member and said componentsupport member further comprise a plurality of recesses in respectivelower surfaces thereof in alignment with said spaced apertures thereinfor receiving said upwardly extending portions of said connectorfittings.
 4. The socket assembly of claim 3, wherein said connectorfittings have essentially laterally extending portions including saidexternal lead wire connection terminals for attachment to said leadwires, said laterally extending portions of said plurality of connectorfittings being arranged in first and second tiers, respectively.
 5. Thesocket assembly of claim 3, wherein said recesses in said upper surfaceof said intermediate support member include an upwardly extending wallalong one side thereof and the corresponding recesses in said lowersurface of said component support member include a downwardly extendingwall along a side thereof opposing said upwardly extending wall, therebydefining a space between said walls in which said second portion of theplurality of connector fittings is retained.
 6. The socket assembly ofclaim 5, wherein said connector fittings have essentially laterallyextending portions including said external lead wire connectionterminals for attachment to said lead wires, said laterally extendingportions of said plurality of connEctor fittings being arranged in firstand second tiers, respectively.